The Panasonic KX-MB1500 MFP is priced like a personal mono laser printer, but integrates copying and scanning into a small form factor.

In late 2010, Panasonic introduced the KX-MB2000 ($130 street, 4 stars) a compact, 3-function mono laser MFP (that can print, copy, and scan) priced at what you might expect to pay for the printer alone. It earned an Editors’ Choice based on its price, speed, paper capacity, and solid output quality. Recently, Panasonic debuted an even smaller mono laser MFP, the Panasonic KX-MB1500 ($124.95 list). It has a lot going for it, though unless you have to pigeonhole it into an even smaller space than would fit the Panasonic KX-MB2000, we’d give the older model the edge, as its output quality is a bit better. The matte-black KX-MB1500 measures 8 by 14.2 by 15.0 inches (HWD), as small as many inkjet MFPs, and weighs about 20 pounds. The front panel is conveniently tilted slightly up, and houses a 4-way controller, 2-line monochrome display, Menu, Start, and Stop buttons, a few other function buttons to control Copy and Scna, and a numeric keypad for entering number of copies and the like. The MFP’s flatbed fits A4 and letter-sized paper; it lacks an automatic document feeder (ADF). The main paper tray fits 150 sheets, and there’s a 1-page manual feeder. (The KX-MB2000’s main tray holds 250 sheets.) It lacks a memory-card reader or port for a USB thumb drive.

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The KX-MB2000 is limited to USB connectivity (making it best as a personal printer for a sole proprietorship or a micro office); I tested it with the driver loaded on a computer running Windows Vista.

Print Speed and Output Quality

To its credit, theKX-MB1500 matched the KX-MB2000’s 8.0 effective ppm speed in printing out our business applications suite, even though its rated speed is 19 ppm while the KX-MB2000’s is 24. (Rated speeds are based on text-only printing, while our tests include text-only pages, graphics-only pages, and pages with mixed content.) The Editors’ Choice Canon imageClass MF4570dn ($299 direct, 4 stars), a more full-featured but pricier mono laser MFP, zipped through the tests at 12.3 effective ppm; its rated speed is 26 ppm.

But while the KX-MB1500’s speed was impressive enough for a $125 laser MFP, its output quality was more commensurate with its price point, sub-par across the board. Text, though fine for typical business use, was difficult to read at the smallest sizes. In some graphics, much of the distinction between areas with slightly different shading was lost. Graphics also suffered mild banding (regular bars or stripes slightly darker than the background) and dithering (graininess). Although thin lines from monochrome originals showed up fine in the output, thin lines that had been converted from other colors were greatly degraded or frequently invisible in the output. The graphics should be okay for personal or internal business use, though I wouldn’t feel comfortable handing the output to current or prospective clients.

Photo quality was similarly problematic, with mild banding and dithering, and poor contrast, especially in brighter areas. You can print out recognizable images from Web pages or files, but that’s about all.

Other Issues

The KX-MB1500’s claimed running cost is 3.8 cents per page, on the high side for a mono laser though a bit lower than the KX-MB2000’s 4.2 cents.

The two big draws of laser printers over inkjets are their print speed and text quality. The Panasonic KX-MB1500 ruled at the former considering its bargain price, matching the Editors’ Choice KX-MB2000’s speed despite having a slower-rated print engine. Text quality, though, was no better than a good inkjet, and graphics and photo quality also suffered. The KX-MB1500 is more compact than the KX-MB2000 and has a slightly lower running cost, though the latter has greater paper capacity and somewhat better output quality.

If you want speed, output quality, and a full feature set in a mono laser MFP for personal, home-office, or micro-office use, consider the Editors’ Choice Canon imageClass MF4570dn. It adds an ADF, duplex printing, and both wired and WiFi networking, though at a significantly higher price. If your budget and space are tight, and print speed is more important than text (or graphics and photo) quality, the KX-MB1500 may be your perfect choice.

As Analyst for printers, scanners, and projectors, Tony Hoffman tests and reviews these products and provides news coverage for these categories. Tony has worked at PC Magazine since 2004, first as a Staff Editor, then as Reviews Editor, and more recently as Managing Editor for the printers, scanners, and projectors team.
In addition to editing, Tony has written articles on digital photography and reviews of digital cameras, PCs, and iPhone apps
Prior to joining the PCMag team, Tony worked for 17 years in magazine and journal...
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